Equanimity

1. Entspringen

I open my eyes to the sound of someone knocking incessantly at the door of my sparsely furnished room. Dragging myself out of bed, I amble over to the door and open it slightly. Peering through the crack, my sight lands on the irritated visage of my “Master”: Mariska. “Wake up when I call for you, Wilhelmina; not on your own time.” She snaps, before turning on her heel and trotting away. B****. Slamming the door, I dress myself and climb down the two flights of stairs to get to the kitchen. Mariska gestures to a chair, and I take my seat. “Over the next five days, I will need you to deal with a matter that is of importance to me.” She began. Great; another menial job. “So vhat do you need me to fetch zis time? Another virgin off ze street for you to feed on? A large sum of valuables? Should I just go out into ze street and start butchering people for you amusement? Vhat say you, Master?” I interject, girding myself for a swift rebuttal. To my surprise the broad lets out a quick bark of laughter before responding. “Oh I would like any one of those things at the moment, but no… what I want you to do is to track down and capture a person named Caleb Hannan and bring him to me. After you do that, I might allow you some time to yourself on the weekends to go where you want; with my approval of course.” No different zan before, she always promises vat, and zen rescinds it at the last minute. Instead I replied: “Do it yourself, I have no interest in ze partaking of a kidnapping.” Rising from my seat, I turn my back on her and begin to walk away. “Yes, just as you have no interest in learning the identities of your parents you illegitimate slave?” She replied tonelessly. Whirling around, I scream “You Hure!” and dive at her, my hands clenched into fists. Laughing, she steps out of the way and catches me by the ankle, before slamming me against the floor. A punch to the face elicits a cry of pain. “Pfft… Utterly pitiful!” She mocks, pinning me to the floor with her foot. Stepping back, she turns and reseats herself, while I pull myself off the floor. “Wilhelmina? Fetch one of the servants. I’m hungry.” She asks. “Do it your –” I begin to say, before being crushed under the indomitable force of her will, as an overriding command enters and fills my mind. I turn stiffly and my feet move on their own towards the doorway that leads to the main hallway, and then to the room where laundry is washed. I can only mutely scream in outrage as my hand closes around the throat of one of the servants, a short young girl who is barely thirteen and I drag her effortlessly out of the laundry room. I can hear her pleas and entreaties for mercy, yet I am unable to respond as my body continues to move against my will. I enter the kitchen and hurl her down at the foot of Mariska’s chair, before trudging backwards into the corner where I am left stand stock still, unable to move. I stand there and watch, as Mariska picks the screaming girl up off the floor effortlessly and sinks her fangs into the girl’s exposed neck. Slowly, the girl’s struggling begins to ebb, and eventually, she goes limp, her arms dangling listlessly by her sides, her jaw slack. Mariska drops the unconscious girl to the floor unceremoniously, and snaps her fingers at me, ordering me to take the girl away. Hunching over, I pick the girl up off the floor, and sling her other my shoulder. Another snap of the fingers sends me walking out of the kitchen, and down the hall towards the servants’ quarters. Stopping in front of the door labeled “Room # 17”, I open the door and set the girl down on the bottom bunk. By this point, the overwhelming compulsions that had been bearing down on my body and mind had lifted, and with a furious shake of my head, I leave the room and shut the door. Following the hallway down to the Rear exit of the building, I take out a key that I had stolen once while Mariska was asleep, and after quickly checking to see if anyone was around, I unlock the door and step outside, being careful to avoid stepping out into direct sunlight. Sitting with my back against the wall of the manse, I wait till dusk has fallen, before I get up and leave down the trail that will lead me to the nearest town. As I go, my mind is begging me to go back, before my absence is discovered, for I know full well that I should only leave when I am permitted to. If I am discovered, my punishment would be severe, yet I brush those fears away and continue down the road, for I have down this multiple times, and have never been caught, or for that matter seen. Entering the town, I make my way hurriedly over to the small inn that is tucked back into a small grove of trees. Knocking on the door I am allowed in by the innkeeper, and taking a turn down a hall meant for the innkeeper himself, I enter a small room, where three young women ages 14 – 17 are hiding. They are some of the few servants who I have managed to sneak out in the middle of the night, a time when Mariska would be preoccupied with hunting or simply traveling up to the mountains that are located a couple miles behind the manse. Shutting the door behind me and locking it, I inform them of what will be going on in the next few days as is customary of me every time I visit. They take the warning that they may have to leave earlier than scheduled well, considering that any servants who are hiding here, normally only leave during periods of inactivity from the manse, and that there is a possibility that Mariska herself could pass by. I turn and say my goodbyes, before leaving the inn. As I start to make my way back towards the road, a shriek shatters the still night air. Following the sound, I head off the road and into a small patch of trees. Making my way through the curtain of branches and trunks, I come upon a young man and a girl, both in their late teens, who are arguing viciously. As I watch, the young man grabs the girl by the throat and lifts her without any visible exertion into the air by the throat. He opens his mouth to shout and his words carry over to me. “Listen to me, Cassie! If I can’t have you then no one else can! If you try to leave me for anyone else, I’ll break your car’s engine and take away your phone. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?” He yells, shaking the poor girl. “P – Ple – ase Eric put me down.” Cassie whimpers, clutching at his hand, tears streaming down her cheeks. With that, instead of setting her down on her feet, Eric slams her against the ground, and she shrieks in pain. Eric raises his hand and steps toward her and she cringes away from him, hands outstretched against the oncoming blow. Snatching a smooth rock off the ground, I step out from behind the tree I was hiding behind and let fly. “OY! DUMMKOPF!” The rock strikes him squarely on the side of the skull. “OW! WHO THE FU –” Turning towards me he takes a step back and faces me completely. He is abnormally pale, and relatively tall. His hair is a dirty blonde color and his eyes are yellow, like a cat’s. Heh…So he’s a Leasingnehmer. Baring my teeth, I take a step forward. “You can leave her alone and get out of my goddamned sight now or you can stay and get your f*ing head ripped off.” “Or I can tear off yours for interfering, you damn b****!” He shouts charging at me. “Fool.”